The Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, met on Wednesday in Paris with the Director-General of UNESCO, Khaled El-Enany, to sign the agreement recognising the Three Cultures of the Mediterranean Foundation as an independent institution.
The foundation focuses on the Mediterranean region, with a reach extending to Africa and Latin America, and its funds are used to organise activities related to UNESCO's objectives, aims and values. Its areas of action focus on intercultural dialogue, the creative economy, international cooperation and digital platforms.
This is the first meeting between Minister Albares and the Director-General of the organisation, who is the first senior representative of Arab origin at UNESCO. He was supported by Spain in his election. Albares also discussed agreements with the governments of Catalonia and the Basque Country to have representatives in Spain's permanent delegation to UNESCO.
Le Grand Continent
During the day, Albares took part in a seminar organised by Le Grand Continent magazine, which was attended by, among others, essayist Giuliano da Empoli, geopolitical analyst Pierre Haski and MEP Aurore Laluq.
There, the minister argued that "democracy and international law are two sides of the same coin. Whenever they are threatened, Spain and Europe defend these principles, both within and beyond our borders: in Greenland, Venezuela, Ukraine and Gaza”. He also called for “the need to move towards European sovereignty through three key areas: economic, defence and security sovereignty”.
-NON OFFICIAL TRANSLATION-